The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters, and more specifically to a lubrication system for providing the proper amount of lubricant to a large plurality of lubrication points on the row units of a cotton picker.
A typical cotton picker includes two to four row harvesting units, each unit including a pair of upright picking drums located on either side of a row-receiving area. Each drum includes 12 to 16 vertical picker bars having an upper arm member with a cam follower riding in a cam track which orient picker spindles journalled in the bar one above the other and driven by a drive shaft extending through the bar. A drive gear arrangement located in the unit top transmits power from row unit input drive shafts to the drum and spindles.
The various drives, cams and spindles on each row unit must be lubricated frequently to prevent premature wear and failure. As many as 28 individual lubrication fittings are provided on the row unit of a typical cotton harvester, and each fitting usually must be located and provided with the proper amount of lubricant at least daily during the operating season. Extensive service time is therefore required. The fittings must be supplied with the proper amount of lubricant since too much lubricant in certain areas can contaminate the spindles and harvested cotton while too little can reduce the life of expensive components and increase downtime.
Various approaches have been devised to reduce the time and effort required to properly lubricate the row unit. A lubricating apparatus, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,096 of Lutwin C. Rotter, utilizes a separate lubricant metering pump for each drum to deliver a measured charge of grease to the picker bars of the drum. Such a system requires at least two metering pumps for each row unit and is relatively costly and complex, as are most lubrication systems which utilize special flow dividers or metering pumps.